It has been said that runners have their best thoughts of the day while out running. Runner and writer
Michael Selman shares his
"Thoughts on Running" with us here at ontherunevents.com.
I'm a morning runner, but yesterday morning, I did not run. I was
tired, and just couldn't get up. Then I came to work and watched as the
world as we know it changed forever. I'm sure that 9/11/01 will develop
it's own recognizable label at some future date. The initial impact of
yesterday's events has not set in yet, and the long term impact will no
doubt be more far reaching than anyone can even fathom at this point.
Yesterday, very little work was done. I spent the day glued to the
TV, talking to loved ones repeatedly, trying to get statuses of people I
knew who were in the vicinity of ground zero. My boss was less than a
mile away from the World Trade Center when the attack started, and she saw
everything. It took until after 4 in the afternoon before contact was
made with her. She is as okay as any eyewitness can be.
I called my wife Harriet at work at about 4 yesterday, and told her I was
going home to run. She didn't sound surprised. Until the world changed,
I had not planned to run yesterday at all. But sometimes, you have to run
for people other than yourself, and I told her I needed to run, partly for
me, but also for the memory of all of yesterday's victims, and because I
was not going to allow terrorism to dictate the sacred things I still have
control of. My running time yesterday was my symbolic gesture of
continuity during a time of turmoil. When I need to pray, my running time
is my prayer time, and I just plain needed to pray. If I am grieving, my
running time is my grieving time, and yesterday, I needed to grieve. It's
my time of self-intimacy, where I am most in touch with myself. My running
time is my freedom, and yesterday, I needed to be free. My running time
is mine, and yesterday, I needed to wrestle back ownership of myself.
Last night, we had our children over. We don't see them every day,
but last night, it was important that we were in the same place at the
same time. Harriet's daughter Jenny was already there when I got home
from work. When I got back from my run, my daughter Monica was there, and
soon afterwards, Jenny's boyfriend Joe came by too. Lissa, Harriet's
youngest daughter, is in California, but she remained in contact with us
all day. Suddenly, the family unit became exponentially important to us
all.
By the time Harriet got home, Monica had already left, due to some
personal things she needed to take care of. Even in the midst of
world changing events, life goes on. Life goes on. Things have
changed, but life goes on. Many things will be different from now
forward. Some things will actually be different for the better. Other
things will be different in an infamous way. But everything has changed.
Soon, airports will re-open, and many fewer people will be traveling.
Soon, the stock markets will re-open, and the overall financial impact of
what happened yesterday will become clear. Soon, the unity and generosity
of the country and the world will uncover countless thousands of heroes,
and will in some way help the collective healing process. Soon, the
perpetrators of yesterday's horrendous crimes will be exposed, and
definitive, swift, and complete retaliation will ensue. In the coming
days and weeks, the world's and nation's mourning will filter down to
individual mourning, as the dead are identified, and just about every
single person in the country will either know somebody, or know somebody
who knows somebody who lost their life yesterday.
Routine is of paramount importance at this point in time. Being
thrown off of it gives the terrorists victory. We have to play
baseball again, as soon as it is deemed to be safe. We have to open
Disneyland, and Disney World again, as soon as it is deemed safe. We have
to celebrate life again, as soon as we can respectfully do so. We have to
first redefine normal, and then get to it, as soon as we can. And once
again, reminiscent of our deepest despair, we must never, never forget.
And we must run.
In this time of overwhelming grief, it's important to look for the
small victories wherever we can. Simple things like extra long hugs, and
never passing up an opportunity to tell someone you love that you love
them are vital at this time. And yes, we must run. Running is part of
our routine, and a strong foundation of who we are. And we have to find
ways to return to who we are quickly. Returning to whatever routine we
can as soon as we can is in a very small way a declaration of victory.
God bless you all.
Michael
Note from ontherunevents.com:
One way you can help during this trying time is to donate to the Red Cross.
Please do your part!
www.redcross.org
The Roads Scholar, Michael Selman runs and writes in Atlanta GA. He
would love to hear from you. Please e-mail him at TheRoadsScholar@aol.com
with any questions or comments. You can also subscribe to his Newsletter
at that same address.
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